This invention relates to meat defatting machines in general and in particular, to such machines which include thereon, a floatable defatting knife.
In the meat packing industry defatting machines are used which include a defatting knife to trim an excess portion of a fat layer from a large piece of meat such as a shoulder ham (Boston Butt) or the like prior to selling the resulting meat product to a customer. Some of these machines also incorporate a deskinning knife which allows an outer skin layer attached to the fat to be removed while simultaneously removing the excess portion of the fat layer.
In most instances, the meat packing company is allowed to leave a certain thickness of fat layer on the resulting meat product. The thickness of the fat layer so remaining is subject to an agreement between the meat packing company and its customers. Usually penalties are involved if the meat packer furnishes meat which has a fat layer thickness which exceeds the specified acceptable amount. Further, it is economically desirable to assure that the remaining fat layer equals the acceptable thickness. Therefore, it is desirous when trimming portions of the fat layer from each piece of meat to leave the desired thickness of fat layer on the meat in the most exact manner possible.
It has been found that butchered animals such as hogs or cows that are of the same age group generally exhibit, on each particular cut of meat therefrom, a red meat thickness that is generally constant for the age group of animal. However, the thickness of the fat layer in a given age group can vary depending upon the nature of the feed the particular animal was fed. For example, corn fed animals will display a thicker fat layer than other animals of the same age group which were raised on milo or other feed rations.
The typical meat defatting machine will include a conveyor or the like which will rapidly present to a defatting knife successive cuts of meat. These successive cuts of meat typically are from animals of the same age group but as stated, do not have a constant thickness of fat layer although they do have a constant thickness of red meat layer. Further, these successive pieces of meat are presented to the defatting knife in an orientation wherein the fat layer is resting on a conveyor with the red meat layer facing upwardly.
Examples of the prior art have shown machines which have manually adjustable defatting knives wherein an operator of the defatting machine will observe a piece of meat as it approaches the defatting knife, noting the thickness of the fat layer thereon, and attempt to manually adjust the height the defatting knife is above the conveyor surface to leave a constant thickness of fat layer on each successive piece of meat.
Because of the rapid speed in which the pieces of meat are conveyed to the defatting machine, it is impossible for an operator to continually and accurately adjust the defatting knife for each successive piece of meat.